Footballer was victimised by club after racist abuse complaint, judge finds

A Scottish footballer was victimised by his own club after bringing legal action over racist abuse suffered during a game, a tribunal has found.

Rico Quitongo was playing for Airdrieonians when a supporter of the club was allegedly heard racially abusing him when he was playing against Queen’s Park in 2021.

He was informed of the incident by a WhatsApp message later that evening.

Airdrieonians said it carried out an investigation into the matter but it was dropped due to “insufficient evidence”.

The 25-year-old full-back, who currently plays for Annan Athletic in League One, took his former club and one of its directors to a tribunal over allegations of racial discrimination.

He felt his club was trying to manipulate him into saying he did not suffer racist abuse from one of its fans.

In November 2022, a panel dismissed his claims of harassment and victimisation.

At the time, he described the decision as a “bitter blow for anyone who has stood up to racism”.

But, in an appeal judgement in Edinburgh last month, Lord Douglas Fairley said that mistakes were made in the initial decision and ruled that Quitongo had been victimised by his club.

He also found that Quitongo should be due some form of compensation.

The Employment Appeal Tribunal ruled the player was victimised when the Championship club cut off communications with his agent.

Lord Fairley concluded: “The only possible conclusion from the findings made was that the act of cutting off communications with Mr Quitongo’s agent was an act of victimisation because of the contents of the text.”

The judge also found the initial tribunal did not adequately assess the club director’s conduct in relation to the claim that Quitongo had used the racist incident for publicity.

A further tribunal is set to consider these grounds again.